How to Hook an Eel

How to Hook an Eel

The Eel is a very common live bait in the Chesapeake Bay and we are going to go over how to hook an Eel. They are a great live bait for many species that we target like Cobia and Striped Bass. Eels are some of the best live baits to use since they are very strong and lively. They can go hours without needing to be placed in water and also can live in Salt water or in Fresh water. Eels are extremely slippery and can be difficult to hold so a rag is very useful when hooking these baits.

How to Hook an Eel

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There are a few different ways to hook an Eel. The best way to hook an eel is by hooking the eel from the bottom jaw out of an eye. When hooking the eel like this it allows the head of the eel to be pointed downwards. Most predatory fish react much stronger to a live bait that is swimming down as it looks as if he is trying to elude the predator fish.

A good tip when hooking an eel is that once you have finished hooking the eel immediately place the Eel into water. This allows the eel to swim freely instead of squirming and tangling up your fishing line. There are multiple ways this can be done but this is our best way to hook live bait for eels.

When we are hooking a live Eel we use a large hook. A Owner 8/0 or 10/0 is what we recommend for hooking Eels. It is important to remember the constantly replace the water that the hooked Eel is in. This ensures that the water stays clean and well oxygenated so the Eel can stay as lively as possible. When using live Eels we try to stay away from smaller sized Eels. The smaller the Eel the harder they are to keep lively. Larger fish are attracted to a bigger eel in most situations. The bigger Eels move faster and makes more commotion making the predator fish more aggressive. A 12 to 18 inch Eel is what we recommend. Learning how to hook an Eel takes some practice but using these few tips will help make it easy.

If you would like to see how to hook an Eel click the Video below!